Senator Bernie Sanders To Introduce Roads And Jobs Bill

I can’t remember a single proposal from Republicans in recent history that would actually create jobs, yet all we’ve heard from them is some variation of the same old talking point about how President Obama is holding back the economy.

Once Speaker Boehner or Mitch McConnell repeat their usual “it’s all Obama’s fault” speech, then they mention all of the legislation Republicans claim will create jobs – and by create jobs, they mean give more tax cuts to companies who will put the money in the bank, not hire more workers or give employees a pay raise.

In case you didn’t know, writing here at Forward Progressives is not my full time job. I work for a company that makes a lot of money every year and not once have they ever said, “Hey, we had huge profits last quarter so we’re giving everyone a bonus to thank you for your hard work.” Seriously, if that ever happened, I’d probably have a heart attack and keel right over. In fact, just like almost every other large corporation, they’re always trying to find new ways to cut expenses, and labor is almost always the first place they start swinging the axe.

Despite everything Republicans keep saying about cutting taxes for the Haliburtons and other multi-billion dollar companies of America, corporations have zero incentive to hire more workers unless they get to the point where they cannot stretch their labor force any thinner. Corporations also have zero incentive to raise wages in order to retain employees so long as the job market remains in their favor. Right now unemployment is low, but the pre-recession middle-income jobs that were lost have been replaced by low-income jobs.

This brings us to some much needed legislation that Sen. Bernie Sanders will be introducing in the Senate:

Sen. Bernie Sanders said on Saturday that he will introduce legislation when the new session of Congress convenes this month to authorize a $1 trillion, multi-year program to rebuild crumbling roads and bridges and invest in other infrastructure modernization projects. The investment not only would begin to address a growing backlog of badly-needed repairs, it also would put 13 million Americans to work at decent-paying jobs, according to Sanders, who will take over this month as the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee.

“America once led the world in building and maintaining a nationwide network of safe and reliable bridges and roads. Today, nearly a quarter of the nation’s 600,000 bridges have been designated as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Let’s rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. Let’s make our country safer and more efficient. Let’s put millions of Americans back to work,” Sanders said. (Source)

While Republicans have dragged their feet and stalled any attempts to do anything to help our economy over the last 6 years, they don’t have any excuses now that they control both the House and the Senate. The legislation that Sen. Bernie Sanders will be putting before Congress would be a welcome stimulation to our economy for a couple of reasons, and here’s why.

First, it would tilt the job market back in favor of workers. As I said previously, employers aren’t willing to pay anything more than the absolute minimum they have to in order to retain employees. Wall Street is doing great, corporations are making big profits, but the promised “trickledown” has yet to happen. Corporations will only pay people more if they have to do so to keep workers from going elsewhere, and the possibility of hundreds of thousands of well-paying construction jobs would certainly create some competition and incentive for employers to raise wages.

Second, these jobs wouldn’t be a short-term boost to the economy. Fixing over 100,000 bridges and hundreds of thousands of miles of roads isn’t something done in a short amount of time. The money paid to these workers won’t be sat on like corporations are doing with their profits either. Republicans have repeatedly stated that the Keystone Pipeline would create thousands of ongoing jobs and stimulate the economy, but that has been mostly debunked, and you’ll certainly hear them complain and oppose Bernie Sander’s legislation.

If Republicans want to stop being seen as the party of obstructionists, then they need to get behind Bernie Sanders and support this bill. They now control both houses of Congress, there’s no valid excuses for continuing to hold the American people hostage for political gain. There’s a little less than 2 years between now and the 2016 election, and they have a lot of work to do to show voters that they’re anything more than the party of the 1%, by the 1%, and for the 1%.

Comments

I wonder how many times Bernie got to use one of Obama’s young breeders? I bet old Obama loved loaning them out to that old white Socialist to keep his vote in his pocket.

AverageHomeboy

lmfao wait, what are the implications of this comment?

Walter Goerlitz

Liberals heads explode.

Walter Goerlitz

Some old white democratic senators will find out they missed out on the freebies because of their mindless voting?

Edmund Goerlitz

Man, you’re sick, Walter. You spend every day, dick in one hand, keyboard in the other, just trollin’ around the Internet in a desperate attempt to snare someone, anyone, into the slightest semblance of interaction with you. Is it to make up for the fact that you haven’t had any real world contact with another human being in so long that even this post, that clearly points out what a worthless excuse of humanity you are, is enough to keep you from giving a blow job to a 9mm for at least a few more hours? While I am happy that this post allows me to vent my frustration at such mindless bullshit, I have to admit that I regret validating your existence with a response. It feels almost like I told you a lie. Please never forget how worthless and alone you are. At least until you finally pull the trigger, launching your very misused gray matter onto the wall in the dull glow of your only friend, the computer monitor.

Walter Goerlitz

LOL! More drivel from a limp dick liberal. Keep trying though, you are amusing.

Walter Goerlitz

Was this an attempt to let you suck my dick?

Edmund Goerlitz

Haha! And the decades long repressed homosexuality comes out. No, if I wanted dried up shrimp in my mouth, I’d go to the Chinese buffett. It was an attempt to get you to kill yourself. That should have been clear. Kill yourself, Walter. You’re worthless, unloved, and you deserve it. Kill yourself.

Walter Goerlitz

That’s what I thought, you faeries are always trolling for man meat. Sorry you sick demented pervert, I find your dreams to be as disgusting as Obama loaning out his little breeders to those old white democratic senators for votes.

Edmund Goerlitz

You’re really winning at this exchange, Walter. Getting angrier and angrier as you read the truth I’m writing. Kill yourself. The world will be better without you here.

Walter Goerlitz

Angry? I am amused. You could not hold your own so you went in for kill yourself diatribe. Please, little girl, don’t spar with your betters and expect anything less than your humiliation.

Edmund Goerlitz

First I’m a fairy and now I’m a girl. Old man, you’re so stupid you can’t even keep your insults consistent. There’s no holding my own here because this isn’t an argument. It’s a dumbass troll who has forgone the use of logic, truth, and reason due to unbridled racism and frustration at self repressed homosexuality (that’s you) and a person pointing out the obvious fact that you deserve to send yourself to hell. I went for my “kill yourself diatribe” because you actually should kill yourself, Walter. Literally kill yourself. End your worthless, stupidity-riddled, wasted life. Nobody loves you. No one even likes you. Kill yourself, old man. You’ve wasted enough time here in this life. Kill yourself. No one will miss you. In fact, there’s probably several people you know who will be overjoyed to hear you finally shut down the last 5% of functioning brain you have left. Kill yourself, Walter. You deserve it.

Walter Goerlitz

You seem to be a bitter little girl. Does you Daddy no longer abuse you? Has he moved on to the dog since your bum is used up? I actually feel sorry for you and the bitterness of your warped mind shows.
Don’t be so bitter, black guys will still use you.

Edmund Goerlitz

So far you’ve demonstrated your homoerotic fantasies, as well as your strange obsession with raping female children and dogs. So your life consists of trolling the Internet and daydreaming of rape. You’re sick in the head, Walter. There’s no cure for how disgusting your feeble old mind has become. Kill yourself, you demented old rapist. End your misery. It’s a wonder you can live with all that sick perversion in your soul. Kill yourself, Walter. You deserve to die.

Walter Goerlitz

Bitterness becomes you. What alleys do you hang out in, I have some migrant workers who could use you.

Edmund Goerlitz

Kill yourself, old man.

Walter Goerlitz

Keep trying, by the way, when you let the alley dwellers use you do you dream of Obama?

Walter Goerlitz

LOL! Now you just a redundant old queen.

Walter Goerlitz

You never really did answer the question, when Obama loans out his young breeders does he trade their favors for votes or maybe he gets to service the old white Senators also.
Still waiting on your delusional thoughts.

Antonio Sosa

Despicable! We are already BROKE, and all Democrats can think about is how to spend even more trillions we don’t have!

ShibumiMC

You are only broke because you maintain 1000 military bases around the world. That nobody but you wants.

wendy

Better for families to be too broke to live? Who needs jobs anyway? And we need to take away any food stamps for jobless or minimum wage workers too. The nerve of people to expect food. We should also cut social security because old folks are just a drain on society. Let’s all just be rich, that would solve everything

Cemetery Girl

We have crumbling infrastructure across the country, not a problem that will go away regardless of how much it is ignored. Making repairs and/or replacing structures will create jobs (unlike corporate tax breaks), realistically not just for jobs in the construction but also manufacture of goods needed for the jobs. Basic economic principle.

FD Brian

Apparently you forgot what republicans did with the surplus that was given Bush, oops, pot to the kettle…you’re black.

Jim Bean

Did Bernie mention where the $1 trillion to cover the cost would be coming from? W/o knowing that, it would be early too call it a ‘good idea.’

ShibumiMC

As I have said before: Bernie for President.

Mark Stone

Does anyone seriously think repubs are going to vote for this? Hell no. It ain’t their beloved pipeline, nor does it benefit their friends in oil or on wall street. Chance of passing? Zero, but I give Bernie credit for trying. Too bad the folks who keep voting in the alleged job creators will fail once again to see the repub hypocracy.

strayaway

“Obama said roads and bridges nationwide need rebuilding and more than 1 million unemployed construction workers are itching to “get dirty” making the repairs.” -Yahoo September 2011

Yawn, Democrats say such things every couple of years. In fact Obama proposed a big infrastructure stimulus package a couple of years earlier. That was the $831B American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009 also known as “Porkulous”. However, feminist groups complained that too much of the money would go to male construction workers so the plan was revised to shore up jobs of school teachers and other government union workers. Only 1/8 of that money, $105B, wound up going to infrastructure projects. Obama blew it. He had his chance to do infrastructure but spent it rewarding government unions for their political support.

Now Senator Sanders is trying to find work for all the legal and illegal aliens he and the President are bringing here. 4-5M illegal aliens are being given work permits for a wider range of better jobs under president Obama’s November 20 edict. The Senate passed amnesty bill would double the number of legal aliens coming here as indentured IT workers to replace middle class US workers at lower wages. What these fellows refuse to consider is that supply and demand determines employment levels and resulting wage levels. Increase the supply of workers and the demand slackens for existing workers. It makes little sense to be creating jobs while importing workers, creating more free trade agreements, and fast tracking the TPP.